Howl
by CheveronChick
Summary: "Almost as if they were offended by the noise, the wargs howled even louder. Not ones to be outdone, so did the elves." Legolas and his patrol are just trying to have some fun at their campsite, the Wargs don't think they should.


Farlen strummed idly on his lute, the same one that used to belong to Lord Ferdan many years ago. It was the same one Farlen had been taught to play on. So far he managed to drag it through every inch of this war, he had never once misplaced it.

Legolas considered it one of his greatest personal achievements, considering his dear friend was famous for living his life like some sort of invisible goblin followed him around and tossed every single thing he placed down out of a window.

Legolas idly tapped afoot to the beat of the song and found that he was humming more than singing. His eyes were closed with contentment as the fire glowed warmly against his face, stomach full of warm stew and heart happy to be back to one of their outposts.

It would be the first resemblance of a bed any of them had slept in for near two months.

Their spirits were high even if their voices were soft against the night. A few crickets and frogs added their songs to Farlens playing and Legolas humming, adding to the beautiful melody dancing through the branches and roots of the trees.

Avaleina and Eloissa dissolved into near-hysterical giggles at a joke nobody else heard and was probably meant to hear.

Legolas opened his eyes again to look at the two of them, as they struggled against their laughter, faced turning shades of red with the strain. Eloissa was forced to clamp her hands over her mouth in an attempt to stop the waves of giggles

Unable to control herself, Ava leaned her face into Legolas' shoulder to stifle the sound and he slipped an arm around her waist automatically to pull her a little closer. Nobody here would notice or care. Just the sound of their continued laughter made all the others around smile sincerely to hear it.

Eloissa snorted from where she had collapsed in the grass, and said in a fairly good imitation of Avaleina, "Thank you, but I don't remember asking for your name."

Both of them redoubled their laughter until they had tears in their eyes, and had lost enough breaths their laughs were completely silent. But their bodies still shook with the silent joy.

A cold, cruel howl spit the air and everything else fell silent all at once.

Not even a cricket would dare make a sound. Avaleina had sat upright and turned so that her back was towards Legolas and her eyes to the forest. His arm tightened its grip on her, while his other grabbed his bow.

Nearby, Eloissa had likewise sat up and was dragged across the grass by Ruimen so that she was closer to himself and Farlen.

Their weapons master, Ferdan's harsh voice echoed in all their minds: _A warrior that fights alone will be the first to die, alone. _The Silvan's elves' strength was held in their seamless teamwork. Their backs cannot be exposed if there are always two other people to keep it covered.

Weapons in hand, they froze, holding their breath. Waiting. All finaly tuned ears strained with all their might.

The night was haunted with a few answering howls, and the elves relaxed a little. Farlen was the one that voiced all their thoughts, "That sounds like it's from across the border."

The Wargs continued to howl at whatever they so chose, not an uncommon sound so close to the edges of their lands.

"Yes," Legolas agreed after a few more seconds of listening closely to the voices, "It is, there's just lots of them tonight and the sound is carrying on the wind."

They waited for one last chorus of howls to confirm their suspicions, and when they did they relaxed the rest of the way.

Even so, the air and mood around them was anything but relaxed now. It was tense, ready to spring open with action at any moment, even if there was none to be had. The crickets stayed silent, and the frogs hadn't left the safety of their waters yet.

But the howls continued to assault the air, echoing in long directions. They all exchanged equally long glances with one another.

Slowly and softly at first, Farlen began picking at the strings again. A different melody this time. One that was crips and light as a fresh spring day, the one that near everybody in their kingdom new the words to.

He winked to his friends and patrol members, and the volume grew a little bit louder, and he began humming to the tune.

Ruimen was the first to start singing, almost just as softly as when Farlen had started up strumming the music again. It was sweet and melodious, even with the crashes of the howls still exploding into the air.

Eloissa joined soon after. After that, the last three all added their voices too. The melody grew stronger, and so did their voices.

Almost as if they were offended by the noise, the wargs howled even louder.

Not ones to be outdone, so did the elves.

They raised their voices like they wanted the stars themselves to be able to hear them, they raised them until they were practically screaming them at the top of their lungs. They raised them until they couldn't notice and hardly remembered the howling that still attempted to disturb their night and their fun.

And then they raised them just a bit more. One song blending into the next and soon they were all on their feet and dancing around their fire with smiles returned on their faces, and laughter in their eyes.

A howl still spilled across the air, but nobody took the time to notice or care. Not even the crickets or the frogs who had gathered around to listen and to watch their elves, enjoying their voices and their spirits long after the Wargs had given up their attempts to haunt the night. Returning to their dens and cowering away from the artificial day the elves had created with their light and love.

It was another battle won against this endless war they played.

**.0..00. **

**Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed and I look forward to hearing your thoughts! **


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